Without a strong blog to step to
Think of how many weak posts you slept through
Time's up, sorry I kept you
Before you go giving me credit for that bit of genius in the open, I was just paraphrasing the great urban poet known as Rakim, from his song "I Know You Got Soul." The point of it all is that this is my first time taking part in Thursday Movie Picks (hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves) is way too long. I once took pride in delivering Thursday goodness on a weekly basis. And I even got to do it in my native language. However, I'm here to talk about movies I couldn't enjoy without subtitles.
Non-English Language Movies
Layla M.
(2016)
Our main character is a Moroccan girl of Muslim faith living in Amsterdam. The racism and Islamophobia she faces causes her to become progressively more extreme in her views. Soon enough, she marries a young man, attends a Jihadist camp and relocates to Jordan. The movie goes from there. It's an emotional roller-coaster and an excellent character study.
The Insult
(2017)
Truth told, all of the movies I've picked this week can be categorized as character studies. This one focuses on two men in Lebanon: one a native, the other a Palestinian refugee. They have a run-in that leads to fisticuffs that leave the Lebanese native injured. From there, it becomes something of a courtroom drama, but it's all about the journey of these two men. Interestingly enough, though this is not an American movie, many of the immigration talking points we hear in this country are dealt with. It provides them and a number of other things with depth and treats them with care. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. And yes, it all stems from an insult.
On Body and Soul
(2017)
The very same year as <i>The Insult</i>, this film was also nominated for Best Language Film at the Oscars. Both would lose to <i>A Fantastic Woman,</i> which I haven't seen. Here, we get a movie about a pair of introverts who work together at a slaughterhouse. An investigator is there trying to figure out who is responsible for a theft. Through this, it comes to light that the pair has matching dreams every night. Inevitably, this leads to a relationship between them. Both have their quirks, but neither is played for laughs. In fact, it's all pretty serious despite being an oddball love story. Fair warning to those who wish to watch: the slaughterhouse setting comes into play for one really uncomfortable scene. We get to see the graphic killing and beheading of a cow, and it looks painfully real.